Marianne Stowell Bracke and Jake Carlson

Increasingly we are living in a data-driven world. Agriculture is no different. Research in agriculture and related fields is growing more and more dependent on the application of data. Graduate students, as emerging research professionals and data producers, will need to understand how to manage, organize, describe, disseminate, and archive data sets for themselves and others.

Research from a two-year IMLS study on data information literacy, combined with interviews with faculty and grad students in agricultural disciplines, demonstrate that there is a pressing need for data management education for graduate students. Initially, librarians presented this information in traditional approaches: one shot sessions, graduate seminars, and embedded in research groups. It became clear that these were not enough to prepare students for the full range of skills and implement the skills in practice.

This poster describes a pilot program currently underway led by librarians and funded by the College of Agriculture. This pilot recruited graduate students from across different departments in the College. This cohort meets weekly, using their own research data to learn the concepts. Through offering this pilot, we will develop a better understanding of the issues with data that are universally relevant across departments and experience in teaching the knowledge and skills needed for students to address these issues going forward. This cohort of students will benefit from receiving intense, hands-on training in managing their own data. One of the goals for the program is to create a community of students knowledgeable with data management and curation issues who will then be able to spread awareness and best practices of data management with fellow students and others in their own labs. From weekly reflections by librarians and students, as well as interviews with the student’s advisors, we will assess the pilot’s effectiveness.